I was a bit floored when Karlene posted a comment to my "Trilogy of Terror" post that there was another movie with a killer doll that had left a big impression on her as a youth. It's actually a Twilight Zone episode called Living Doll, in which a "Talky Tina" doll that comes to life and terrorizes the mean step-father of the little girl who owns her.

I KID YOU NOT!! TALKY TINA!

She tells him, "My name is Talky Tina and I think I hate you" and "My name is Talky Tina and I'm going to kill you!"

First reaction: Yikes! Second reaction: need to see that, then walk around saying scary things to hubby so no one else can hear... mwah hah hah! Then again, he IS CHUCKY.

What are the odds that Hubby and I would both be immortalized as evil dolls? Just proves we were just meant for each other. Let's just hope our kid isn't Seed of Chucky!

My boy Jeremy Piven is back on the small screen, in the the new show Entourage on HBO. Unfortunately, he plays a slimey, rude agent. Between that and his role in Old School as an uptight nerdling Dean with ginormous glasses, I'm losing a little of the Pivenatuation I previously had. Looks like I need to rent Serendipity and old episodes of Ellen.

I love Entourage though, something a bit different. My brother is back out in LA to get his acting career going, maybe he'll be in the same boat too - a rising actor with family and friends soaking off him (he wouldn't mind this at all).

Through some odd discussion thread - as usual - I asked Jenny & Aaron if they'd ever seen the movie where a little tiki doll comes to life and runs around with his little spear, yelling "ay ay ay ay ay ay" as he tries to kill the woman in the movie... no glimmer of recognition...

The internet proved me not to be delusional... the movie, Trilogy of Terror, from 1975, stars none other than Karen Black. Turns out it's a bit of a cult classic. My brother called right then and I asked him, "remember that movie with the tiki doll...?" and he replied, "ay ay ay ay ay ay ay". Even though he was so small and should've easily been drop-kicked, that itsy-bitsy, biting, stabbing, freaky little tiki doll managed to scare the crap out of us.

The movie is now in my Netflix queue and I hope to be sharing the glorious cheesiness of it with J&A very soon.

PS - Aaron, you might not want to look at THIS LINK.

Gone to the Dogs

Why do people love dogs so much? They love you unconditionally, don't talk back and it's been scientifically proven that they are infinitely cuter than humans. A relatively new "Lifestyle" mag for dog lovers - Modern Dog - tries to use the most attractive humans to compete, but, alas, Pam & Paris' cuteness not withstanding, the puppies prevail.

My favorite toy company, Leapfrog, just announced that they have teamed up with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide talking books about health to Afghan women. The books will allow the women who cannot read to learn also.

The snippet of the book I heard on NPR said, "Touch a picture that shows what to do with muddy water"... I couldn't tell what the answer was... Now I'm curious... Either way, it's a noble cause and I'm sure it will not only have an impact on their health, but I think the women will find it a bit fun too, as most Leapfrog products tend to be (I still chuckle when I think of Mya scanning her tummy, boop, boop, boop).

I heard a bit of an
interview on NPR today about
Avenue Q - a Tony-award winning
broadway musical - with puppets.
Think Sesame Street meets
Reality Bites.

I'm all about Muppets with Attitudes.







.

Best Bite

So while I'm doing Top 10s... and my blog IS called Daily Bite (stemming from my love of food)... I should include my:

TOP 10 FAVORITE FOODS OF ALL TIME (order subject to change daily)

Pellegrino's Buffalo Chicken Sub

Love Hearts*

Vanilla Latte with Whip from Starbucks

Frozen Faux Ho's (Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls)

Double Double w/fries from In-n-Out Burger*

My Grandma's Italian Cookies (Chocolate Balls and Pizzelles)

Sesame Chicken from The King and I

Chicken Madiera from Cheesecake Factory*

Baked Mac & Cheese from Lolas*

Jamba Juice Smoothies*

*These represent items not available in Rochester, which is, to say the least, both a travesty, depressing, and behind my driving desire to travel west as often as possible and somehow, someway, someday, bring them to Rochester!

Honorable Mention:

Maggie Moos Ice Cream - a new ice cream place in Eastview Mall, has delicious ice cream, yummy mix-ins, and a delicious waffle cone, worth the money AND the calories! (My fave - Dark Chocolate with Heath Bar mixin)

Banana Laffy Taffys - if I eat one, I will eat 20, they are dangerous!

Jenny and I (and those of you who have your own blogs) are not only trendwatchers, but we actually contribute to a bonified trend just by talking about trends. According to Trendwatching.com....

"CURATED CONSUMPTION: millions of consumers following and obeying the new curators of style, of taste, of eruditeness, in an ever growing number of B2C industries..."

"CURATED CONSUMPTION is behind magazines morphing into catalogues, which then morph into eclectic stores, it's behind DJs, restaurant critics, opinionated bloggers, and rap stars giving consumers access to their playlists, their cribs, their top 10 lists."


Cool. On that note... My Top 10 Beauty Products of All Time

10. Tigi BedHead Hair products (yummy scents, cool packaging, cool names, and they work great)

9. Duwop Lip Venom (tingly, yummy, supposedly induces Melanie Griffithesque lips)

8. Clean (to smell like fresh laundry)

7. Tweezerman tweezers (pluck, pluck, pluck)

6. Loreal Lineur Intense Eyeliner (for my inner metal head)

5. Origin's Never a Dull Moment (to exfoliate)

4. Mac Veluxe Eyeshadow (soft as buttah)

3. Bathina Body So Fine (smells great and can double as a hair wax)

2. Frizz-ease hair products (to keep me from looking like Rosanne Rosanna Danna)

1. Shu Emura Eye Lash Curler (don't leave home without it)

You may notice that a former favorite of mine is missing - Brown Sugar Body Scrub from Skinmarket. That's because Skinmarket went out of business - UGH!!

It's a Right Brain, Left Brain Thing

Today, Jenny and I attended a brainstorming session at work. Invited not as part of our jobs, but because a fellow employee recognized our creativity, unusual thinking, trendwatching and awareness of all things current. It was a very rare treat to have unspoken, unofficial, seemingly non-job-related talents recognized and utilized in a way that may actually help the company make money, rather than just making the environment fun for others (though we're good at that too).

It was a bit of a challenge to try express creative thoughts while amongst Nuclear Physicists and Material Scientists who want to talk about polymers and circuit boards, but it was an interesting, fun experience and Jenny and I came up with some kick-ass ideas. I just wish I'd have found this Strange Matter web site before the session.

For Those About to Rock

The t-shirt contest went well. I wore my vintage AC/DC concert shirt, circa 1981. Mind you, this is an authentic, earned shirt, not one bought off Urban Outfitters last week. That puppy is older than 99% of the pop stars that would sport it if I dared to sell it on eBay. (Yep, old and proud!) I didn't win, but I enjoyed rockin old school.

Hello my name is Tina and I'm a shopaholic

Now that I have your attention...

Bare Necessities is having a sale (of sorts), where you get a free pair of undies with the purchase of a pair. I'm all about free with purchase.

Chiasso is also having a big clearance sale. They have very cool stuff.

I also would like to max out my credit card at the West Elm sale.

Must play more lotto.

We're having a t-shirt contest for our Diversity event at work.  Here are some t-shirts I like... but would be inappropriate for this or any work related event...

Favorite Beauty Product of the Moment

I bought a tin of this Bunny Balm in Pineapple Pin Up a while back because I thought the packaging was too cute. One day, while vaining over the frizz that was rapidly expanding the girth of my hair, I, in desparation, found only this lip gloss. So I rubbed it into my Rosanne Rosanna Danna 'do, and, miraculously, it smoothed my hair into "don't hate me because I'm beautiful".

I'm all about using beauty products inappropriately.

I fantasize about food more often than a teenage boy fantasizes about Britney. I plan vacations around food. Yet I try hard not to indulge freely and become the size of a small trunk-endowed circus animal. So you can imagine my delight when I found the Hungry-girl site! It is a site after my own heart and waistline.

From my visit with Mya this past weekend to celebrate her second birthday...

Her current vocabulary (Aunt Tina's note: Mya was born 10 weeks early so is slightly behind developmentally, but, by age 4, her genius will far exceed that of any mere mortals)
- cheese (both for the camera and the food)
- auggie (for my doggie, Grizzy)
- uckie (for my hubby, her Uncle Chuckie)
- wa da (asking, what's that?)
- ball (yep, you guessed it, ball)
- bah (bye said with some unknown accent, perhaps she's secretly watching Sean Connery movies when no one is looking)

Words we're pretty convinced she said but has not reliably replicated:
- hello
- stitch
- grandma

Other Observations

She has a very outtie belly button that Aunt Tina may have to fund the surgery to get fixed since Aunt Tina has major belly button issues. We're talking an outtie of Lenny Kravitz proportions here. AAAAaaaahhh, I can barely type/think about it.

She holds up a finger for #1, then tries to do 2 but can't figure out how to hold down fingers 3 & 4.

She's very into nodding yes or no and is adament about her decisions

She is using the Leap Frog grocery cart to scan her face and her belly (wonder where in the world she got THAT idea!?)

I'm not sure if I think this is funny or sad... but Vince Niel is getting an extreme makeover... here's the article:
------------------------------------------

"Rocker Vince Neil begins a three-month extreme makeover today for MTV's version of "The Swan." "I call him `The Mallard,' " said Lia Gerardini, Neil's girlfriend. At 43, the frontman of the legendary rock group Motley Crue is the first rock star to join the reality re-do craze.

The new Neil will be revealed August 28, after seeing a lot of a trainer, a plastic surgeon and a lifestyle counselor. Starting today, he consults with a plastic surgeon and cuts out drinking.

"It's not just for me, but for my career," said Neil, who is in negotiations to reunite in January with Motley Crue, if he and former drummer Tommy Lee can get past their feud.

MTV is billing the show as "The Remaking of Vince Neil." At stake for Neil is a recording contract and the opportunity to work with a top producer and a recording artist.

------------------------------------------

Poor Vince, swapped out groupies for big gulps once grunge governed and fame fleeted, didn't you? You live in Vegas, so I know the In-n-Out burgers got you too, Vince. You love the double doubles with cheese, you KNOW you do!! It's all right, we're all friends here. Your safe now. We understand. You can be Anna Nicole-esque without surgery. We believe in you!

I'm visiting Mya and Sherri today. I made Mya a cake and she dug in, she loves sugar, just like the rest of the family. She's napping right now, but earlier was loving the Leap Frog Shopping Cart we got her. It has a scanner, so the funny part is, even though it is meant to scan the grocery items, it will also scan other things... so just like in my dream a couple weeks back, I can hold it up to my mouth and scan (boop, boop, boop).

Mya turned 2 today!! My mother would just be beside herself with this beautiful child. Sherri calls her mini-mom because Mya's so silly, just like our Mom, always laughing.

From sad poetry to silly health facts...

Earwax = Good; Boogers = Bad

I used to write poetry alot. I'm no Jewel, but I thought maybe I'd start again - to express my sadness semi-constructively, as opposed to just spewing bad news. So here goes...

So close I can feel your breath on my shoulder,
but with clarity, the coldness envelops me.
I shudder, unable to protect my weak flesh.
My heart grows heavy, my mind fails me, my eyes blur.
I cannot see through the pain,
I am blind.

.

LA.com is having a contest where you can win a year of In-N-Out Burgers and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drinks! Unfortunately, you have to be a resident of California. So here's my plea... if you live in California, PLEASE enter, PLEASE win, then PLEASE take me for a double-double, naked (the burger, not you or me), with a chocolate shake... then later, we could grab a latte at CB&TL. Sounds like a plan to me.